scholarly journals Large-Eddy Simulation of a Residual Layer: Low-Level Jet, Convective Rolls, and Kelvin–Helmholtz Instability

2014 ◽  
Vol 71 (12) ◽  
pp. 4473-4491 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mikio Nakanishi ◽  
Ryosuke Shibuya ◽  
Junshi Ito ◽  
Hiroshi Niino

Abstract Diurnal variations of an atmospheric boundary layer from 0900 LST on day 33 to 0600 LST on day 34 of the Wangara experiment are studied using a large-eddy simulation (LES) model that includes longwave radiation and baroclinicity. The present study directs its particular attention to phenomena in a residual layer (RL). As the surface heat flux decreases, an inertial oscillation is initiated and is accompanied by a low-level jet (LLJ) at a height of approximately 200 m. The maximum wind speed of the LLJ exceeds 12 m s−1 at 0300 LST on day 34. After 2100 LST on day 33, the horizontal advection due to the LLJ under a large-scale horizontal gradient of temperature destabilizes the RL and consequently induces horizontal convective rolls, parallel to a vertical wind shear (VWS) vector, between heights of 400 and 1400 m. The VWS in the layer between the bottom of the convective rolls and the gradually growing LLJ maximum is intensified after midnight, and the gradient Richardson number falls below its critical value of 0.25 at a height of 400 m at 0130 LST on day 34. An empirical orthogonal function analysis demonstrates that Kelvin–Helmholtz (KH) vortices appear below the convective rolls and are coupled with them. This study suggests that horizontal convective rolls can occur in an RL because an LLJ often advects warmer air to the lower layer according to a large-scale gradient of temperature and that the rolls may coexist with KH vortices in a stable boundary layer because the LLJ gradually increases a VWS.

Author(s):  
Takashi Takata ◽  
Akira Yamaguchi ◽  
Masaaki Tanaka ◽  
Hiroyuki Ohshima

Turbulent statistics near a structural surface, such as a magnitude of temperature fluctuation and its frequency characteristic, play an important role in damage progression due to thermal stress. A Large Eddy Simulation (LES) has an advantage to obtain the turbulent statistics especially in terms of the frequency characteristic. However, it still needs a great number of computational cells near a wall. In the present paper, a two-layer approach based on boundary layer approximation is extended to an energy equation so that a low computational cost is achieved even in a large-scale LES analysis to obtain the near wall turbulent statistics. The numerical examinations are carried out based on a plane channel flow with constant heat generation. The friction Reynolds numbers (Reτ) of 395 and 10,000 are investigated, while the Prandtl number (Pr) is set to 0.71 in each analysis. It is demonstrated that the present method is cost-effective for a large-scale LES analysis.


2007 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shaolin Mao ◽  
Z. -G. Feng ◽  
Efstathios E. Michaelides

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yangze Ren ◽  
Huiwen Xue

<p>Cloud feedback in mid-latitude marine stratocumulus is not clearly understood due to few reliable observations. Stratocumulus cloud is the most frequent and extensive cloud type over mid-latitude marine areas and has strong short-wave radiative effect. In this study, large eddy simulation (LES) is used to resolve the vertical structure of mid-latitude marine stratocumulus. We find that, in the wintertime over North Pacific, stratocumulus cloud often forms in regions of high pressure and large-scale sinking motion, and can remain in steady-state for a couple of days. We then choose two typical cases to do LES simulation: One has a lower cloud top height and a stronger temperature inversion (case l), without mesoscale cellular structure; the other has a higher cloud top height and a weaker temperature inversion (case h), with closed-cell cellular structure. The liquid water content profiles are adiabatic, and the boundary layer is well-mixed for both cases. In case l, the main source of turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) is from cloud top long-wave radiative cooling for the entire boundary layer. In case h, TKE production due to cloud-top longwave cooling is only significant in the cloud layer, and the subcloud layer TKE is mainly from surface processes.</p>


Atmosphere ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mikko Auvinen ◽  
Simone Boi ◽  
Antti Hellsten ◽  
Topi Tanhuanpää ◽  
Leena Järvi

This study examines the statistical predictability of local wind conditions in a real urban environment under realistic atmospheric boundary layer conditions by means of Large-Eddy Simulation (LES). The computational domain features a highly detailed description of a densely built coastal downtown area, which includes vegetation. A multi-scale nested LES modelling approach is utilized to achieve a setup where a fully developed boundary layer flow, which is also allowed to form and evolve very large-scale turbulent motions, becomes incident with the urban surface. Under these nonideal conditions, the local scale predictability and result sensitivity to central modelling choices are scrutinized via comparative techniques. Joint time–frequency analysis with wavelets is exploited to aid targeted filtering of the problematic large-scale motions, while concepts of information entropy and divergence are exploited to perform a deep probing comparison of local urban canopy turbulence signals. The study demonstrates the utility of wavelet analysis and information theory in urban turbulence research while emphasizing the importance of grid resolution when local scale predictability, particularly close to the pedestrian level, is sought. In densely built urban environments, the level of detail of vegetation drag modelling description is deemed most significant in the immediate vicinity of the trees.


2018 ◽  
Vol 855 ◽  
pp. 371-407 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Cheng ◽  
D. I. Pullin ◽  
R. Samtaney

We present wall-resolved large-eddy simulation (LES) of flow with free-stream velocity $\boldsymbol{U}_{\infty }$ over a cylinder of diameter $D$ rotating at constant angular velocity $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FA}$ , with the focus on the lift crisis, which takes place at relatively high Reynolds number $Re_{D}=U_{\infty }D/\unicode[STIX]{x1D708}$ , where $\unicode[STIX]{x1D708}$ is the kinematic viscosity of the fluid. Two sets of LES are performed within the ( $Re_{D}$ , $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FC}$ )-plane with $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FC}=\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FA}D/(2U_{\infty })$ the dimensionless cylinder rotation speed. One set, at $Re_{D}=5000$ , is used as a reference flow and does not exhibit a lift crisis. Our main LES varies $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FC}$ in $0\leqslant \unicode[STIX]{x1D6FC}\leqslant 2.0$ at fixed $Re_{D}=6\times 10^{4}$ . For $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FC}$ in the range $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FC}=0.48{-}0.6$ we find a lift crisis. This range is in agreement with experiment although the LES shows a deeper local minimum in the lift coefficient than the measured value. Diagnostics that include instantaneous surface portraits of the surface skin-friction vector field $\boldsymbol{C}_{\boldsymbol{f}}$ , spanwise-averaged flow-streamline plots, and a statistical analysis of local, near-surface flow reversal show that, on the leeward-bottom cylinder surface, the flow experiences large-scale reorganization as $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FC}$ increases through the lift crisis. At $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FC}=0.48$ the primary-flow features comprise a shear layer separating from that side of the cylinder that moves with the free stream and a pattern of oscillatory but largely attached flow zones surrounded by scattered patches of local flow separation/reattachment on the lee and underside of the cylinder surface. Large-scale, unsteady vortex shedding is observed. At $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FC}=0.6$ the flow has transitioned to a more ordered state where the small-scale separation/reattachment cells concentrate into a relatively narrow zone with largely attached flow elsewhere. This induces a low-pressure region which produces a sudden decrease in lift and hence the lift crisis. Through this process, the boundary layer does not show classical turbulence behaviour. As $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FC}$ is further increased at constant $Re_{D}$ , the localized separation zone dissipates with corresponding attached flow on most of the cylinder surface. The lift coefficient then resumes its increasing trend. A logarithmic region is found within the boundary layer at $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FC}=1.0$ .


2007 ◽  
Vol 64 (12) ◽  
pp. 4445-4457 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Antonelli ◽  
R. Rotunno

Abstract This paper describes results from a large-eddy simulation (LES) model used in an idealized setting to simulate the onset of the sea breeze. As the LES is capable of simulating boundary layer–scale, three-dimensional turbulence along with the mesoscale sea-breeze circulation, a parameterization of the planetary boundary layer was unnecessary. The basic experimental design considers a rotating, uniformly stratified, resting atmosphere that is suddenly heated at the surface over the “land” half of the domain. To focus on the simplest nontrivial problem, the diurnal cycle, effects of moisture, interactions with large-scale winds, and coastline curvature were all neglected in this study. The assumption of a straight coastline allows the use of a rectangular computational domain that extends to 50 km on either side of the coast, but only 5 km along the coast, with 100-m grid intervals so that the small-scale turbulent convective eddies together with the mesoscale sea breeze may be accurately computed. Through dimensional analysis of the simulation results, the length and velocity scales characterizing the simulated sea breeze as functions of the externally specified parameters are identified.


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